Clarence Clemons Remembered By U2, Coldplay, Slash

Chuck D and guitarist Tom Morello also tweet kind words about late Bruce Springsteen sax player.
By Gil Kaufman


Clarence Clemons
Photo: Scott Halleran/ Getty Images

The rock world paid tribute to late Bruce Springsteen foil Clarence Clemons over the weekend, following the great saxophone player's death on Saturday.

Among the biggest names honoring the towering figure known as "The Big Man" were U2, who tipped their hats to Clemons on Saturday at the end of their gig at Anaheim's Angel Stadium during their encore performance of "Moment of Surrender." Singer Bono asked the audience to remember Clemons by holding their glowing cell phones up and said, "This is a special moment we want to share with you right now. Let's take the lights down, take out your phones. I want you to think about the beautiful, symphonic sound that came out of one man's saxophone ... I want you to think about Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, brothers. I want you to think of Clarence Clemons. This man just carried music, and music carried him until this day."

Bono, a master of rock-and-roll toasting, ended the touching remembrance by singing a few verses of the legendary Springsteen tune "Jungleland," which featured a memorable solo from Clemons. Reading from a sheet of paper, Bono recited the blue-collar bard lyrics in his Irish brogue as if reading the roughneck poetry of a New Jersey Yeats, as guitarist the Edge played some chugging guitar chords behind him.

Also paying homage were Coldplay, who posted a video of the E Street Band performing "Jungleland," with a message from singer Chris Martin, who wrote, "RIP our favorite saxophone player, Clarence 'Big Man' Clemons."

Twitter lit up with a number of tips to Clemons, including Public Enemy leader Chuck D, who wrote simply, "R.I.P. Big Clarence"; former Guns 'N Roses guitarist Slash, who called Clemons "one of the finest musicians/people in this business"; and the Fray, who tweeted, "Sad day. R.I.P. Clarence Clemons. You will be missed."

Springsteen was among the first to weigh in on the loss of his close friend and longtime musical partner in a blog on his official site that read, "Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years. He was my great friend, my partner, and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band."

The love for Clemons came from wide and far and included Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who tweeted, "The Great Clarence Clemons. Thank you so much Big Man for sweetening the sound of our planet with your sax and your soul."

Clemons died on Saturday at the age of 69 of complications from a stroke suffered last week. In addition to playing on 20 albums in Springsteen's catalog, Clemons also played with artists ranging from Jackson Browne to Ringo Starr and most recently Lady Gaga. He's also appeared in films like "New York, New York" and "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," as well as TV shows like "The Wire" and "The Simpsons."

Share your memories of Clarence Clemons in the comments below.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666017/clarence-clemons-death.jhtml

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Lady Gaga To Premiere 'Edge Of Glory' Video On 'So You Think You Can Dance'

Singer is also set to appear as guest judge on show later in season.
By Jocelyn Vena, with additional reporting by Sabrina Rojas Weiss


Lady Gaga
Photo: Getty Images

Lady Gaga is ready to take fans to the "Edge of Glory." The singer confirmed that she will debut the music video for the clip on Thursday on "So You Think You Can Dance." Little is known about the Joseph Kahn-directed clip, but all will be revealed in good time, it seems.

The news comes just as executive producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe announced he was getting Gaga to join celebrity judges like will.i.am on the show this season.

"Yes, I asked her when she performed on the 'American Idol' finale if she would come on, and she said yes," Lythgoe . "She is on tour so they said it would probably be later in the season. She is an amazing dancer and performer."

He tossed around a few other names of celebs who might be guest judges, including Neil Patrick Harris, Kristin Chenoweth, Ellen DeGeneres and Megan Mullally. "We have a lot of people who want to help the kids become unique. The biggest thing is standing out from the crowd," he said. "The kids have to find something that makes them unique and these performers know how to do that."

When Lythgoe and judge Mary Murphy sat down with MTV News recently, they said they wanted to make sure that celebs who come on the show are the right fit.

"I think [celebrity judges] make it exciting for sure," Murphy said. "I'll never forget when Ellen sat next to me. But it made it a little bit difficult for me because I think she's so funny. ... Then I had to focus."

Lythgoe added that his wish is to have celebrity judges who aren't just famous faces but who know about dancing. "The sad thing for me is when some celebrity judges come on, they just want to be liked, so they're not going to give a good critique," he said. "Just 'you were wonderful, you were wonderful.' ... Then again there's a whole raft of judges, particularly in dance — Shirley MacLaine, Mitzi Gaynor, Debbie Reynolds — that could be called upon to judge, that have been there, done it through the '40s and '50s that are stunning, were stunning dancers.

"I'm going to be talking to Fox about it, but I know in my heart that Fox will say, 'Well, we don't really know them, can you get Lady Gaga?' ... She was excellent on 'Idol,' " he added. "A little naughty!"

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Jimmy Henchman's Lawyer Refutes Link To G-Unit Associate's Murder

'The only 'evidence' tying that murder to Jimmy Rosemond is the uncorroborated word of a criminal,' Jeffery Lichtman tells MTV News.
By Rob Markman


Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond
Photo: MTV News

Things continue to go south for Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond, but despite federal prosecutors' efforts to tie the longtime music manager to shootings and murders, his lawyer continues to refute the mounting claims.

On Wednesday, Dexter Isaac told AllHipHop.com that he had a role in the 1994 robbery and shooting of Tupac Shakur and he alleged that Henchman paid him $2,500 to do the deed. Now, on Thursday (June 16), the Smoking Gun reported that two men tied to Rosemond have been charged with the 2009 murder of Lowell "Lodi Mack" Fletcher, a known G-Unit associate.

Henchman questioned the credibility of Dexter Isaac in a statement he issued in May, while his lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, recently called Isaac's confession "a flat-out lie."

In response to Rosemond's connection to the murder of Lodi Mack, Henchman's lawyer issued this statement to MTV News: "The only 'evidence' tying that murder to Jimmy Rosemond is the uncorroborated word of a criminal seeking to get out from under a lengthy jail sentence. Prosecution witnesses have been bribed and threatened, solely in an effort to convict Jimmy, a target of the US Attorney's office for years."

After a 2007 incident when he assaulted Rosemond's son, Fletcher pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child. As the story goes, Fletcher slapped Henchman's son in the head after he spotted the teenager walking down a Manhattan street wearing a T-shirt with the name and logo of his father's management company, Czar Entertainment. 50 Cent's artist Tony Yayo, who was also present at the time, pleaded guilty to a noncriminal harassment charge in connection with the incident, but escaped any jail time. At the time 50 Cent and his G-Unit collective were involved in a beef with Game, who is managed by Czar (a source close to Game told MTV News that while the rapper is still signed with Henchman, he doesn't manage his day-to-day affairs).

Fletcher was sentenced to nine months in prison, which ran concurrent with an unrelated narcotics charge; he was eventually paroled in 2009. Two weeks after being released, Fletcher was fatally gunned down in the Bronx, New York.

Now, Rodney Johnson and Brian McCleod are being charged with the Fletcher murder by federal prosecutors in a superseding indictment obtained by the Smoking Gun. The indictment charges that Johnson orchestrated the killing and that McCleod agreed to carry out the murder in exchange for narcotics. The document, however, does not specify who the triggerman actually was.

The indictment also charges the men with drug trafficking, tying them to a ring that moved cocaine from L.A. to New York. DEA agents believe that Jimmy Henchman headed the ring but have not charged him with the Lowell murder in any way.

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Tracy Morgan Meets With LGBT Teens After Anti-Gay Remarks

'It was an apology from one human to another,' one resident at NYC center tells MTV News of meeting the '30 Rock' star.
By John Mitchell


Tracy Morgan meets with LGBT teens
Photo: GLAAD

Earlier this month "30 Rock" star Tracy Morgan offended many with homophobic remarks he made during a stand-up show in Nashville. The comedian has since made several public apologies and announced this week that he had partnered with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation in its efforts to combat anti-gay bullying.

On Friday (June 17), in his first major project with GLAAD, Morgan met with youth from the Ali Forney Center in New York City, the nation's largest organization serving homeless LGBT youth. The actor also met with Elke Kennedy, whose 20-year-old son Sean was killed in 2007 in an anti-gay hate crime.

"Initially, he seemed very nervous, I think he seemed kind of frightened when he got there," Carl Siciliano, the head of the Ali Forney Center, told MTV News after the meeting with Morgan. "I don't think he knew what to expect from us." Siciliano said Morgan was "very apologetic" and 'just wanted to make it really clear that he was there to apologize, that he hadn't meant to do this, that he was hurt by what he had done. He was repeatedly apologetic."

At the center, Morgan spoke openly with the young residents, including Jayden, who was rejected by her family when she came out of the closet. "It was an apology from one human to another and I really appreciated that," Jayden told us.

"Today, Tracy saw firsthand the toll that homophobia and anti-gay violence can take on a person's life," GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios said in a statement. "By meeting with LGBT teens left homeless because of who they are, we hope that Tracy has come to understand that so-called 'jokes' about gay youth are not just irresponsible, they are damaging."

The actor also spoke with Kennedy, an LGBT activist who travels around the country speaking out against anti-gay violence and rhetoric as part of Sean's Last Wish, an organization she founded in her son's memory. According to Kennedy, Morgan was so moved by Sean's story that he got choked up, saying, "You know, that should never happen. That's why my comments, the ones I made, are not going to be made again."

Kennedy said she believed Morgan was truly sorry for the comments he made, which included alluding to killing his own son if he grew up to be homosexual. "I feel like he made a commitment during this meeting to make a difference," she told MTV News. "He said that he was going to use his talent as a comedian to be an advocate for the LGBT community."

During the meeting, Morgan announced that he'll return to Tennessee on June 21 to apologize to those he offended during his stand-up act. While in Nashville, he also plans to meet with the Tennessee Equality Project and local advocates. What do you think of Tracy Morgan's efforts? Tell us in the comments.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666000/tracy-morgan-lbgt-glaad-anti-gay-remarks.jhtml

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